Penn Charter's 1971-72 Powerhouse In the 1971-72 school year, PC stormed to a perfect 10-0 record in Inter-Ac play and finished 23-2 overall, counting a 1-1 split with college freshman teams. The Quakers topped Lafayette's frosh and fell to Penn's squad, 93-79, at the Palestra. Penn's star was Ron Haigler, who wound up coaching PC for the '76 and '77 seasons. Because another coach was off on a recruiting junket, Penn's boss in that game was assistant Rollie Massimino, who steered Villanova to the NCAA Title in 1985. The other loss, in OT, came vs. Lawrenceville School (NJ). PC was the No. 1-ranked team in the entire Delaware Valley and one of its wins came vs. Chester, which advanced to the PIAA's highest-classification (AAA) championship game. The 1971-72 season was coach Lee Jackson's third at PC and the record in that span was 61-11. The most amazing fact concerning this team's success, many would say: It had lost 33 points per game. In 1970-71, senior guard Billy Harris led all of Pennsylvania in scoring (with 28.7 in league play; he dropped 65 in a non-league game). The 1971-72 squad's starting lineup included four seniors -- Ed Enoch, Tim O'Rourke, Barnes Hauptfuhrer, Tim Knettler -- and one soph, Mike Enoch, Ed's brother. Ed Enoch (15.5 I-A average), Tim O'Rourke (14.8) and Barnes Hauptfuhrer (15.2) finished 1-2-3 in the voting for the Coaches' All-Inter-Ac Team. Such a feat had been achieved only once, by Friends' Central in '46, in Inter-Ac history, and has gone unmatched ever since. Tim Knettler (11.8) finished sixth and headed the second team. Ed Enoch played four years of college ball at Penn and was PC's coach for five seasons ending in '82. Hauptfuhrer played four years at Princeton, earning first team All-Ivy honors in '76 (along with academic All-American laurels; he was also a third-round NBA draft choice), and Mike Enoch played four years at William & Mary.Look below for more . . .

In 1999, the 1971-72 team was inducted into PC's Athletic Honor Society. Here is the text that was read at the ceremony:

At the end of an incredible 61-11 run that began two years earlier, the ’71 -’72 Quakers overwhelmed opponents and dominated the InterAc. Sophomore Michael Enoch was the lone non-senior starter in the season that ended 23-2 overall, 10-0 in the league, and was ranked as the number one team in South- eastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey. The backcourt of Ed Enoch (15.9 points per game, 59.2 field goal percentage) and Tim O’Rourke (15 ppg, 52.1 percent shooting) was one of the finest tandems ever to play in Philadelphia, both on offense and defense. The baseline and boards were in the control of Tim Knettler (75 percent at the line, 9 rebounds per game) and Barnes Hauptfuhrer (15 ppg, 10.9 rebounds per game, 61 percent field goal shooting, 83 percent free throw shooting). Games opened with fast breaks and smothering full-court presses that typically gave the Quakers double-digit leads before opponents could call time. One highlight game in the season was the nonleague clash against Chester High, that year’s PIAA title runner-up, in which the Quakers overcame a halftime deficit to win by 12. The team shot 52% from the field, 68.2% from the line, and averaged almost 74 points per game during the season. --

1971-72

GS

Pts

Avg

Mark Aitken

7

27

3.9

Howie Canfield

1

2

2.0

Joe Catrino

1

4

4.0

Ed Enoch

10

155

15.5

Mike Enoch

10

88

8.8

Pete Ervin

4

7

1.8

Barnes Hauptfuhrer

10

152

15.2

Tim Knettler

10

118

11.8

Tim O'Rourke

10

148

14.8

Tad Sowa

3

5

1.7

Scott Williams

3

8

2.7

--A story from the Philadelphia Bulletin about the win over Chester . . .